asked the Secretary of State for Trade if, pursuant to the reply of the Minister of State for Trade on 2 March, Official Report, column 73, he will estimate the number of lost jobs represented by the deficit in manufactured and semi-manufactured goods with the European Community amounting to £2,467 million in value for 1980.

[pursuant to his reply, 9 March 1982, c. 354]: The United Kingdom deficit with the European Community in manufactures, including semi-manufactures, was £1,765 million in 1980. The figures for the United Kingdom balance of trade in semi-manufactures with the European Community given in the Official Report, 2 March, c. 74 are, as the footnotes indicate, included in the figures for manufactures. No useful conclusions about the level of employment can be drawn directly from the deficit, which should not be viewed in isolation from our trade with the rest of the world, with which we have a large surplus, nor in isolation from our trade in other goods and services.